Lonely Planet Switzerland

by Nicola Williams, Lonely Planet

Look past the silk-smooth chocolate, cuckoo clocks and yodeling contemporary Switzerland, land of four languages, is all about epic journeys and sublime experiences. Nicola Williams, Lonely Planet WriterOur PromiseYou can trust our travel information because Lonely Planet authors visit the places we write about, each and every edition. We never accept freebies for positive coverage so you can rely on us to tell it like it is.Inside This Book 4 national languages9 detailed trekking itineraries14 famous lakesHundreds of epic vistasIn-depth backgroundClear, easy-to-use mapsExtensive coverage of activitiesInspirational photosComprehensive planning toolsAt-a-glance practical info

Genres: Travel, Reference, Nonfiction, Guides

384 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2009

Reviews

[Alison · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have been a connoisseur of travel books since I was in elementary school, and once adored Lonely Planet. I spent a few months living in Zurich, and then a year living in a small ski resort in the Suisse Romande called Villars-sur-Ollon. This text was my guide for my time in Zurich, and I found it to be terrible. Lonely Planet focuses too much on the cities now, and provides little context aside from an oddly chosen and dry assortment of history/culture narrative at the end of the book. For Switzerland, the authors chose to do this "anti-Switzerland" approach, eschewing the outdoor activities, small villages, etc., for oddly curated "non-traditional" sights and such. I would be all for this if it was done well; however, it is not. It's love for Lausanne's cultural sights is curious, as is the fact that it largely ignores areas like Ticino and Basel, and almost excludes the less popular areas around Neuchâtel. This guide does not paint a portrait of Switzerland, but rather presents a disjointed, misguided image of a country that is all but perfect. The beauty of Switzerland is the ability to get anywhere with public transport, and thus, the small villages are readily accessible and should be paid more attention to. Some people do in fact come to Switzerland to do outdoor activities, also, and I bet those thousands of individuals would have liked a tiny bit of information regarding those endeavors as opposed to excessive gushing about the (albeit very awesome) Geiger Bar in Gruyères. I was so disappointed with this book during my time as a Swiss resident that I switched my allegiance once and for all to the more thoughtful, readable companions that are the Rough Guide. Don't even get me started on the Lonely Planet for Ireland.

[Michelle Sauvageau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative - can’t wait to put all the advice and research to use in less than a month!

[lorraine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Superficial.

[Hurricane_ReD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful and informative. We got a lot of good ideas from this that we used on our honeymoon to Switzerland in 2011.

[Hurricane_ReD · Rating 2 out of 5]

Page 27 says that Carnival sweeps through the Catholic cantons in February, and mentions that you can catch it in Basel. The problem with that statement is that Basel's celebration is, first and foremost, PROTESTANT, not Catholic--that's what sets it apart from all the others! Not only should a well-established company like theirs know this, but they also have a writer living there, and they still got it wrong.

There's no mention of the fact that Basel's Fasnacht lasts for 72 hours either, or that it closes nearly every attraction in the city for its entire duration. This is important information that a traveler needs to know ahead of time. My husband and I went to Basel on our honeymoon in 2011, and didn't know Fasnacht was happening then, and many of the things we planned to see we just had to skip, because they were closed due to Fasnacht. Travel books in 2011 didn't outline the impact of the celebration in Basel either, or we could've been clued-in ahead of time.

The information in this book is incredibly sparse. Lonely Planet guides used to be thicker & more comprehensive, & I wish they were still like that. Disappointed. You'll have better luck with a DK Eyewitness or Fodor's guide--not Rick Steves' Switzerland book though, because it doesn't even mention Basel, as though they don't even think it's worth visiting.

[Wajiha · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want a guide book with pictures this isn't for you. Really good off-the-beaten-track advise. Considering it was my 4th trip to the country, I still found lots of fascinating things to do using it and marked some more off for my next visit.

[Leonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't read all of this book, only looking at Zurich and the other places we will be visiting. Nice.